Every retailer likes to hear the word “buy” and that was in the vocabulary of brokers at Guggenheim when they opted on Friday to initiate coverage Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Nike (NYSE:NKE), Macy’s (NYSE:M), Coach (NYSE:COH) and other retail stocks.
Analysts gave the stocks a “buy” rating, pointing to a number of trends that show the US consumer on solid footing.
Amazon shares were up 1.2% at $838.85, Nike up 1.6% at $53, Coach up 1.5% at $36.76, and Macy’s up 2.7% at $37.03 on Friday.
Meanwhile, investors may walk to Skechers (NYSE:SKX) after the footwear maker was upgraded by Susquehanna to "positive" from "neutral". The brokerage said any bad news is priced into the stock and that it expects new offerings to drive "material improvement" in 2017.
Skechers shares were up 5.5% at $23.11.
It was similar news for the retailing behemoth Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). Broker KeyBanc began coverage with a "buy" rating, saying its latest investments will help drive sustainable market share gains.
Wal-Mart shares were up 2.2% at $72.31.
Away from the retail euphoria, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) also had something to cheer about. Brokers at Mizuho upgraded the chipmaker to "buy" from "neutral," following reports that it is in talks to buy NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI). Mizuho said such a deal would make significant strategic and financial sense.
Qualcomm shares were up 1.7% at $68.61. NXP up 6.1% at $102.